In lieu of a Sunday Salon post today, I thought I would do an update on my Thankfully Reading Weekend progress and do another mini-challenge.

I have to admit, I haven’t gotten as much reading done as I would like, and it’s not all my fault. Blame it on Jen at Devourer of Books, who tweeted about this fantabulous plug-in for WordPress, Editorial Calendar. It is an amazing organizational tool, and it motivated me to complete a bunch of draft posts and get them scheduled for the next few weeks.

I have been reading, too, though – I am in the middle of three very good books right now: Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde, Changeless by Gail Carriger, and The Anatomy of Ghosts by Andrew Taylor. I’ve also polished off a couple discs each of The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: Kingdom on the Waves by M.T. Anderson (boy, is that a long title!), and Angels in the Gloom by Anne Perry. And I’ve been thoroughly enjoying myself, which is the point, right?

This mini-challenge is about reading communities – the ones we’re most thankful for. Of course, as a book blogger, I adore the book blogging community! And I love my Twitter buddies, some of whose blogs I read and some of whom read mine, but we chat more on Twitter than anywhere else. I also have great reading companions in real life, and wanted to mention them here:

Dad – We share a love of fantasy and science fiction, and especially dystopian fiction. I love it when I’m reading a book and know that it’s one I’ll pass on to Dad. And I love the conversations we have afterward.

Mom – Mom and I share a love of fiction and memoirs and we also pass books back and forth. It’s so much fun to discover new books and authors that I know she’ll love as much as I do.

The sisters: Andrea, Debra, and Marni – I have three sisters, all of whom have very different reading tastes. However, each one has a genre or two that coincides with my interests, as well. Whenever we chat – either IM or on the phone, since none live close – the subject of books inevitably comes up.

Michelle – My best friend and I have such similar reading taste that we have to compare notes before making our post-holiday Barnes & Noble book purchase. One year, we duplicated several titles. If we confer ahead of time, we can order more books and then share!

My kids – Not all of my kids love to read, but we’ve had read-aloud time since they were tiny. We’ve moved on from picture books and now enjoy great middle grade and YA fiction together. I hope they never outgrow read-aloud time.

Kevin – While Kevin is a very different reader than I am – he reads e-books on his Palm (gasp!) – I appreciate the fact that he puts up with my incessant book collecting. And now that he’s discovered the joys of e-books, we’ve actually been able to discuss a book or two.

As you can see, I’m surrounded by wonderfully different, but delightfully bookish people. And, of course, there are all of you to talk books with. I am abundantly blessed!